20 Best Web Design Software

Creating a proper website with all of the functions isn’t the easiest job to do, and surely, you’ll most likely need someone to do it for you in case you are a newbie. However, aside from Java scripting, web design can be done using various software, which usually isn’t free, but having someone do it for you neither is. In this case, you want to buy a reliable and quality software for your web design needs.

Best Software for Web Designing

In our article, we are going to check 20 best web design software, so you can decide which one suits your needs the best.

1. Adobe Dreamweaver

Dreamweaver was created by Macromedia back in 1997, which was later acquired by Adobe Systems in 2005. Adobe Dreamweaver is now one of the most respectable software when it comes to web design, with many users using it at this moment. So, what makes Adobe Dreamweaver great? Adobe Dreamweaver works by implementing a visual design surface (Live View) and a code editor, to make most out of your web design. The Code Editor comes with some standard features like code collapsing, code completion, real-time syntax checking and much more. Aside from web pages optimized for PC, Adobe Dreamweaver allows for creating mobile content. All in all, if you are looking for highly-specialized web design software, Adobe Dreamweaver is a perfect app for that matter.

2. Coda

MacOS may not be the most popular operating system, but it has one hell of a web design software, and it’s Coda of course. Coda was developed by Oregon-based developer Panic back in 2007 and it’s the best web design app for MacOS. Coda has a well-crafted user interface which is split into 6 sections; Sites, Edit, Preview, CSS, Terminal, and Books. This works well, as Coda allows for accessing multiple sections at the same time, allowing the developer faster and more fluid work. In Sites section, you can see the projects (websites) you are creating and edit them in Edit section. Preview section will help you determine if you did a good job, while Terminal and Books are advanced features. Coda is for those who like simple web design software, but efficient as much as the more sophisticated ones.

3. Adobe Muse

Adobe had a huge influence when it comes to web design and website development. Adobe Muse comes in a package called Adobe Creative Cloud, along with Adobe Dreamviewer which we mentioned earlier. Adobe Muse is, even more, simpler than Coda, because it allows creating an adaptive, fluid or fixed website without the need to write any code. Adobe Muse is best used for static websites with the ability to host sites with any hosting provider. Users can now add more versatility to their sites like eCommerce and blogging, but with third-party apps. Adobe Muse also offers some themes which you can use during your development, but have in mind that due to site’s static nature, themes can’t be applied to an existing content.

4. Google Web Designer

Google always offered a fair amount of tools for developers, whether it’s for Android or platforms like Linux and Mac. Back in November 2015, Google launched their Google Web Designer for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac. This software is used for creating interactive HTML5 content and offers a good amount of features. Its interface offers some of the standard design tools like a Text tool integrated with Google Web Fonts, a Pen Tool, a Shapes Tool and some 3D tools. Google Web Designer also has a good base when it comes to advertising, so you can now add content from YouTube or Google Maps. The best of all is that Google Web Designer is free, and with full support from Google, you can create your own websites with ease.

5. Microsoft Expression Web

After discontinued Expression Studio, Microsoft released their Microsoft Expression Web available for free download. Expression Web is a pretty old software, released back in 2006, thus being one of the most reliable free web design apps. It uses CSS3, HTML5, PHP, JavaScript, XHTML and XML+XSLT to develop and design web pages and requires .NET Framework 4.0 to run and install. Microsoft Expression Web received great reviews from many users thanks to some cool features like SEO Checker, Interactive Snapshot Panel and workspace and toolbar customization. Although it’s a free app, Expression Web is a full-fledged web design app, capable of doing much for your website.

6. Firebug

If you associated Firebug with Mozilla Firefox, then you are right. Firebug is a free and open-source extension for your Firefox web browser for live debugging, monitoring and editing any websites’ DOM, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and XHR. Firebug is a very efficient in its matter and supports autocomplete feature which allows users to solve their problems at much higher and faster rate, by letting the app do the job. The extension contains multiple windows and allows for checking download times for each of the downloading files and it accepts commands written only in JavaScript. This may be the limitation for some users, but having in mind that JavaScript is pretty common in web development, this shouldn’t be a problem.

7. Webflow

Webflow is another app that supports development without coding. This is a professional “drag and drop” tool that allows developers or freelancers to create and design their websites without any coding, using some of the Webflow advanced features. These features are a contact form, animated interactions, social plug-ins and much more. Webflow is a simple app and doesn’t require any knowledge when it comes to coding. You can try Webflow for free on their website, and who knows… if you are good at it, you can start your own freelancing business by creating websites.

8. Espresso

Espresso is a great web design software for Mac. It boasts a simple, colorful and vivid design, which allows for swift and smooth usage. Espresso is here to help you write, code, build, design and publish your websites efficiently by incorporating some cool features. CSSEEdit Tools, the Navigator, sophisticated text features and much more are located here, and with some advanced features like Dynamo auto-build and Server Sync, Espresso will cover all your needs when it comes to Mac web design. Espresso offers a free trial if you want to try it out, and you can buy it after that.

9. Pinegrow Web Editor

Pinegrow Web Editor is a free web design app for Windows, Linux, and Mac and it’s a pretty good one. This editor allows for easy opening HTML files on your desktop, editing them and saving them to your hard drive. Pinegrow Web Editor supports some quick web page editing and creating with some visual tools and live editing, which means that you can edit your web page while using it at the same time. Multiple web pages can also be edited at the same time, thus accelerating the process of development, and now you can easily edit pages visually and through code.

10. RapidWeaver

MacOS has a huge palette of web design software, and RapidWeaver isn’t an exception. RapidWeaver isn’t a free app, and it costs around $90. This is a fair price for the performance it offers. If you decide for using this app, you need to know that it isn’t that simple in terms of coding, as it uses JavaScript, which is a must for creating websites in RapidWeaver. Also, this app contains great options for graphic designers, with many drag and drop features that allow for creating some of the best-looking and elegant websites. It’s quick, reliable and will let you design and customize your website in less than 24 hours.

11. BlueGriffon

BlueGriffon is a brand new web design app based on discontinued Nvu editor and engine Gecko, which is the rendering engine of Firefox. Like some entries on our list, BlueGriffon also supports simple site creation, development, and publishing by using drag and drop features with a minimal amount of coding, this is also called WYSIWYG. Being one of the leading apps for web design, Blue Griffon supports creating web pages in various HTML standards as well as CSS 2.1 and all parts of CSS3.

12. Webydo

Webydo is another WYSIWYG, cloud-based app that allows the creation of advanced HTML5 websites without writing code. It’s similar to software like Photoshop, but allows creation directly from your browser, making it easier and much faster. Because it works without the need to code, Webydo allows drag and drop functions which you can use to create your website and pages. It’s very simple, yet effective web design app.

13. CoffeeCup HTML Editor

CoffeeCup HTML Editor is an old-school app that serves only as an HTML editor. Sure, its possibilities aren’t that broad, but it worked well and still works for that purpose, although the first version was released back in 1996. For some time CoffeeCup HTML Editor supported WYSIWYG editing, which is always a great addition and makes things easier. Back in 2011 and 2012, CoffeCup HTML Editor was voted for the best Windows HTML Editor, two years in a row. It’s also a free app, so feel free to check it out.

14. Bluefish

Bluefish was released this year and it’s an advanced text editor, which offers many tools for programming and supports a development of dynamic websites. Bluefish is a free software, available for wide variety of platforms like Windows, OS X, Solaris, and Linux, thus being very versatile and accessible app. It supports development in XML, CSS, XHTML, HTML, PHP, C, C++, Java, JavaScript and much more. Although it’s primarily a text editor, Bluefish is very efficient when it comes to website development, and is currently offered in 17 languages.

15. H5P

JavaScript found a great use in web design, thus being the primary choice for many web design software, like H5P. H5P is a free, open-source framework which aims to allow an easy creation and sharing of HTML5 documents and content. This is a web-based content editor able to work with multimedia files and textual content which can be shared on H5P.org, which is the H5P community. This help to further develop this app, and with the great community surrounding this app, H5P might be the next great thing for web design and development.

16. AppTech

AppTech is a company, website and mobile app design dedicated to creating and editing websites. However, their field of work is concerned with medical software development, real estate, restaurant software, mobile and web application development and much more. Being a company and a website, AppTech is easy to stay in touch with and good for those who want more from their business-related websites.

17. InPin

InPin is another app concerned about business, and sharing ideas, creation and work around you. This is an Android app which you can download for free and it doesn’t take much space. For a businessman or those who want to express their business ideas regarding web design or any other field of work, InPin is a great place to start.

18. Amaya

Amaya is a free, open-source authoring tool, with WYSIWYG characteristics. Although Amaya is a web browser, with fairly low system requirements, it can also serve as an HTML editing software directly from the browser, implementing some of the basic features like text tools. Amaya is now an outdated app, with the last update being in 2013, but it’s free and is great for some basic web design needs and newbies.

19. Balsamiq Mockups

Balsamiq Mockups is a versatile web design tool which allows website creation, both for PC and smartphones, as well as apps for PC and smartphones. Its main focus is on drag and drop functions, where you can pick elements from the GUI and drag them to the working space. The Balsamiq Mockups community is great, and they in large amount helped to further develop this tool, so you can now download templates and UI components. With its price of $79, Balsamiq Mockups is a great editor under $100.

20. Sparkle

MacOS has another great open-source software framework by the name Sparkle. Sparkle is designed to simplify the updating of some apps for the user and was active until 2013 with the pause of one year, to be active from 2014 until now. You may not have heard about sparkle, but it’s used in wide variety of apps like TeamViewer, VLC Media Player and much more.